How to Calculate Duties and Taxes on Imports to Croatia

Croatia charges PDV (VAT) at 25%, 13% or 5% on the customs value plus duty and other charges, but the postal and courier procedure without IOSS uses 25% only, whatever the goods. Non-EU online parcels up to EUR 150 also pay a fixed EUR 3 duty per item on the declaration, and all online orders pay a EUR 2 EU handling fee per item since 1 November 2026. Which form the parcel goes on, H7, H6 or H1, decides much of what follows.

• Valuation basis: CIF
• Tax base: Customs value plus duties and other charges due on import, plus incidental costs such as transport and insurance to the first place of destination. Under IOSS, VAT is on the sale price at checkout.
• VAT standard rate: 25%. A 0% rate also exists. Customs says only the 25% rate applies in the simplified postal VAT procedure, without IOSS.
• Reduced rates: 13%, 5%

IOSS: non-EU sellers and marketplaces may register in one member state, through an EU intermediary unless their country has a qualifying recovery agreement, to charge destination VAT on consignments up to EUR 150, excluding excise goods. Without IOSS, Special Arrangements or standard import VAT apply. From 1 November 2026 product identifiers are mandatory on these distance sales.

Hrvatska pošta collects public charges with its own service fees from the recipient on delivery. Its published list, which cites an instruction from June 2021 and may not reflect later changes, gives these fees:

• Up to EUR 150, H7: declaration preparation at EUR 2.46 if IOSS isn't used. None with IOSS.
• EUR 150 to EUR 1,000, H6: declaration control at EUR 4.91.
• Over EUR 1,000, H1: forwarding fees from the price list and a customs inspection submission fee of EUR 4.98, EUR 6.64 or EUR 8.30 by weight.

Charges for sending a customs call for proof, and storage (ležarina), can apply on top of these. Check the price list at a post office or on posta.hr before you depend on these amounts.

Lower-value goods sometimes have to go on H1 because of their conditions, including goods under bans or restrictions, and an H6 parcel re-valued above EUR 1,000 goes on H1 too. For commercial imports, a customs broker will usually file for you.

Carinska uprava sets out three declaration types, and the value decides which one applies:

• H7: up to EUR 150, a reduced data set, used for post and courier. This is the fixed EUR 3 route.
• H6: from EUR 150 to EUR 1,000, post only. Standard duty applies, and the fixed amount doesn't.
• H1: above EUR 150 by courier, or above EUR 1,000 by post, on the full data set.

Duty is charged per line on the import declaration, not per parcel, and whatever the way the VAT is collected. If the seller used IOSS, VAT was collected at purchase and there's nothing to pay on delivery for VAT. Without IOSS, the buyer pays VAT to the post or courier when the parcel is handed over.

Goods go into the VAT calculation with their duty, transport and other costs to the first destination, and the EU fee goes in too. For real numbers, use the import duty calculator, and DDP and DAP explains how to decide who pays.

1. Find the tariff code: use the HS code classifier. Each line on the declaration adds EUR 3 and EUR 2 on a low-value parcel.
2. Pick the form: H7, H6 or H1, by value and carrier.
3. Add duty: EUR 3 per item on H7. On H6 or H1, the tariff rate on the customs value.
4. Add the fee: EUR 2 per item on any online sale.
5. Choose the rate: 25% on the simplified procedure without IOSS. Otherwise 25%, 13% or 5% as the goods require.
6. Apply PDV: on the customs value, duty, fee and costs to the first destination.
7. Add the operator’s fee: for example, Hrvatska pošta’s EUR 2.46 on H7 without IOSS.

Fishing reel and a tackle box to Split by post, H7, no IOSS, two items.

We’ve left the postal fee out of the PDV base, as its page doesn’t address this.

Wool coat to Zagreb by post, H6, one item, tariff rate assumed at 12%.

A product that would normally be at 13%, by the simplified route, one item.

Whether the difference justifies a full declaration depends on the broker’s fee.

• Sending a courier parcel on H6: H6 is for post only. Above EUR 150 by courier, you need H1.
• Assuming a reduced PDV rate on a simplified parcel: Carinska uprava says 25% only.
• Applying the EUR 3 between EUR 150 and EUR 1,000: H6 is at the standard duty rate.
• Quoting EUR 150 as a non-commercial limit: it was a duty relief for low-value goods, and it ended on 1 July 2026.
• Forgetting the postal fees: EUR 2.46 is small, but it’s charged per parcel and storage can add up.

25% only. Carinska uprava says the special import procedure without IOSS uses the general rate of 25% only, and reduced rates don't apply. So a product that would be at 5% or 13% on a normal declaration pays 25% on this route. VAT applies to all commercial shipments, whatever the value, since 1 July 2021.

The EUR 150 was never for non-commercial imports only. Older Croatian guides describe it that way, and it was wrong even then. The relief for non-commercial goods is the separate EUR 45 for gifts between private individuals, and it remains.

Business shipments. Carinska uprava's notice is written around goods bought at a distance. For goods bought by a company, normal tariff rates apply, not the fixed EUR 3, as Irish, German and Austrian customs instructions state.

Euro amounts. Croatia uses the euro, so there's no currency conversion for EU charges.

The EUR 3 ends on 1 July 2028. The EU rule is in de minimis and IOSS and VAT. This is guidance, not tax advice.